The Girl Who Said No by Natalie Galli

Author:Natalie Galli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Publisher: Travelers' Tales
Published: 2019-03-27T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter XV

The Silent and the Loud

When dawn her peachy fingernails painted, I was already wide awake monitoring the manicure, because I hadn’t shaken the image of my teenaged great-grandmother in mourning clothes steering the carretteddu over to the murderer’s house. Maia said she took the reins herself. From Ciccio? He must have accompanied her. Eyes swollen from crying, urging the horse on in a torn voice, she’d made up her mind instantly. The horse whinnied and stamped at the front door. Without climbing down from the cart, she called out that murderer’s name, and when he opened the front door, she looked him straight in the eye and spat out “No!” Then they turned the horse around, home to their mother, the burial and their unsure future.

Gone to pick up final documents at Library.

I scribbled “Gone to pick up final documents at Library” on a scrap of paper, and headed out to the bus stop.

Honoring his word, the substitute librarian had completed the job. I leafed through the headlines and pictures. Bernardo Viola wearing a cap, his wife walking behind Franca to the courtroom. The accused men making faces at the cameras.

“This is all of them,” I smiled. “Excellent. Grazie tanto. Did you ever hear of this case?”

He was leaning over the counter, looking at them upside down. “Of course. I live in Alcamo.”

“You do?”

“Yes, I was born there.”

“No! Does Franca Viola still live there?”

“Yes she does.”

“Veramente? Have you met her?”

“I know her husband personally. I walk by his accounting office every evening.”

“No!”

“Yes, I do.”

“So she married.”

“Oh yes. About two years after the trial. We all waited most of the night outside the church for her; I was a little kid. Police had to hold the crowd back. As it turned out none of us saw her. She and the groom had gone into another small church in the neighborhood, to be wed at 5:30 in the morning. Then they went up to Rome that day. The Pope blessed them after their wedding.”

“The Pope! Wow. I had no idea. What a stroke of good fortune that you just happen to know her husband. I’ve come here because I hope to speak with her, to interview her.”

“She never gives interviews, I can tell you for a fact. She refuses them all. Excuse me signorina, but may I ask why you have this interest in her?”

“It’s hard to explain. I’ve always admired her, from the moment I read about her. Americans don’t know this story.”

“Admirable she is indeed, signorina, but she will not talk,” he repeated.

I tried not to let the disappointment on my face show. “I understand. Her life has gone on. For me just now reading the whole story, it’s brand new. I would not want to invade her privacy. Again, sir, thank you so much for the photocopies. By the way, do you take the bus or train in to work?”

“Boh,” he laughed, “neither on your life. I drive in. I’ve got to report on time when they call at six in the morning with a substitute shift.

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